‘Doubt’: Still provocative after all these years
Plays come and go, but the great ones endure, speaking memorably to audiences over time. John Patrick Shanley’s “Doubt: A Parable,” winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for best play, continues to rivet and divide audiences. And different versions of the story at its core — a priest is suspected of molesting a 12-year-old boy — are still playing out in headlines.
Actors’ Playhouse artistic director David Arisco has mounted a taut, sometimes spellbinding version of “Doubt” in the company’s intimate Balcony Theatre space at the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables. Even if you caught the original offBroadway/Broadway production starring Cherry Jones and Brían F. O’Byrne, even if you know “Doubt” from the 2008 movie version with Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman, this new produc
still the case, the music isn’t making its way into U.S. studios or the major radio stations.
“They will associate themselves with one artist but they are not paying attention to the genre like they used to pay attention back in the day,” Shabba said of label executives. “They have to pay attention to the younger youths too because they are doing great music.”
And this is the benefit of Best of the Best: It not only gives fans a chance to revisit some of their favorite songs, but also to see new emerging dancehall reggae stars as well. Shabba said one has to give credit to co-founders Joey Budafuco and Steve”‘Jabba” Beckford “for always [making time] to put Jamaican music together.”
For his part, Shabba’s last major album was in 1993 — a year after he won his second Grammy for his album, “As Raw as Ever,” and after he made headlines when he was asked in a televised interview to comment on Buju’s controversial reggae hit, “Boom Bye Bye.” Shabba’s comments, while holding up a Bible, were viewed by some as being as anti-gay.
Asked whether he thought the comments may have affected his career at a time when it as on an upswing, he said, “No.”
“It didn’t have a negative impact,” he said noting that “everyone has freedom of religion, freedom of opinion, freedom of speech, freedom to live life and do whatever they want to do with their lives ... . We all will have to answer to the Almighty Father.”
At the end of the day, Shabba said, fans should trust his music.
“Please do not judge me on something that happened 25 years ago,” he said.
Jacqueline Charles: 305-376-2616, @jacquiecharles